Another 3,000-4,000 viewing from atop Mount Washington and an uncounted number of people viewed the demolition from various high points across the city. The stadium, which took more than 2 years to build at a cost of $55 million, seated 47,971 fans for baseball games, and 59,000 for football games. He was forced to go back to the drawing board when construction bids to realize his design were $10 million over budget. TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. It was perched right at the confluence of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela Rivers, walking distance from downtown Pittsburgh. Three Rivers Stadium stood alone, literally, as another cookie cutter, or concrete donut, or bowl. It was a cold Sunday, Feb. 11 20 years ago that a demolition crew reduced Three Rivers Stadium to a heap of rubble and twisted steel. Locals mocked it as the Bridge to Nowhere.. Sister Sledge, the We Are Family authors from the Bucs fabled 1979 campaign, reunited to sing the National Anthem. The outfield wall was a 10-foot wooden fence which eventually got covered with paddingand thank goodness for that when, in a 1998 game, the Pirates Turner Ward ran right through the right-field wall while (successfully) making a catch on a Mike Piazza fly ball. Meanwhile, the naming of Three Rivers Stadium didnt sit well with many Pittsburghers, who rather would have seen the facility named after David Lawrence, the mayor who first championed the idea of a stadium back in 1948. Sunday 00:00 - 00:00. [32] In 1993, the Pirates placed tarps on most of the upper deck to create a better baseball atmosphere, reducing capacity to 47,687. You can see the top of Fort Pittsburgh Bridge (I-279) at the bottom. 15 years later, the midsummer classic returned in 1994. Fifty years ago, on July 16, 1970, Three Rivers Stadium opened in Pittsburgh, Pa. PNC Park grandly looks out toward downtown Pittsburgh and is constantly acknowledged as one of baseballs best ballparks. Three Rivers Stadium. Three Dog Night. Initially, the grounds crew wore #3 on their backs to represent the three rivers. As for the game itself, the Cincinnati Redswho just 17 days earlier debuted in Riverfront Stadium, the appearance and name of which would confuse many with Three Riversedged out the Bucs, 3-2. Home to 14 AFC Central Division champion teams. Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1970 to 2000. Three Rivers Stadium was imploded on February 11, 2001, at 8:03a.m. on a chilly 21F (6C) day. Madrid no se detiene en una maana plena de normalidad, aunque con menos gente en las calles y ms policas que cortan por momentos algunas calles . [56] In 2015, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette moved into a new office building also built on a portion on the site after 53 years in the former Pittsburgh Press building and more than two centuries in Downtown. Advertisement. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, County of Allegheny Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, Southwestern Pennsylvania World War II Memorial. His Hall-of-Fame teammate Steve Carlton had the most wins as a visitor, with 15. The novel look, which would catch on throughout much of the major leagues in the years to follow, yielded plenty of odd looksand laughsfrom the home fans, comparing the Pirates look to that of a weekend softball team, while one sportswriter said the unis reminded him of long underwear.. Following the season on New Years Eve, Clemente boarded a DC-7 in his native Puerto Rico on its way to Nicaragua to provide aid for victims of a recent earthquake; the plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean moments after takeoff, killing Clemente and four others onboard. frozen kasha varnishkes. Bradshaw, desperately escaping Oakland defensive linemen, somehow managed to heave a 35-yard throw down the middle toward running back John Fuquawho was drilled to the ground by hard-hitting Oakland defensive back Jack Tatum. Losing the view of downtown was a bitter bill for Ritchey to swallow; he would ultimately call Three Rivers Stadium his biggest disappointment as an architect. [11] The stadium was located in a hard-to-access portion of downtown, making it hard in later years to get in before games and leave after games. Dock Ellis and Manny Sanguillen, the battery for the first game back in 1970, threw and caught the ceremonial first pitch. Three Rivers has the educational foundation you need to transfer your credits or get specialized career training. After getting used to Three Rivers for half a season in 1970, the Pirates first full campaign at the stadium a year later resulted in their first world title since their fabled 1960 run at Forbes Field. [52][53] With the newly constructed Heinz Field only 80 feet (24m) away, effects from the blast were a concern. The Steelers warmed up from scratch in their first two years at Three Rivers, with a young, taciturn head coach (Chuck Noll) who made bland wallpaper exciting, and a hotshot Louisiana-born quarterback (Terry Bradshaw) learning the ropes at the pro level. Taken from former site and placed in front of Heinz Field. Forced to go back to the drawing board, Ritchey had no choice but to artistically cave to the tight budget, designing a fully-enclosed stadium with a symmetrical build that appealed to a more cost-effective solution. And while the Bridge to Nowhere did get complete and got somewhere, some of the other promised access roads around the stadium never materialized. [25], In their first game after the All-Star Break in 1970, the Pirates opened the stadium against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday, July 16; who won, 32. All good things come to an end. There was some old-timey substance to the proceedings, as 71-year-old Pirates legend Pie Traynor threw out the ceremonial first pitch; Hollywood crooner and long-time Bucs fan/part-owner Bing Crosby was among the notables in the VIP section. It took just 19 seconds for a colossal Pittsburgh sports landmark to collapse. [18] After its closing, Three Rivers Stadium was imploded in 2001, and the Pirates and Steelers each moved into newly built stadiums. Doormats would have been more appropriate; as the Steelers bounced around Pittsburgh without its own stadium, they were traditional losers who made only one postseason appearance in 37 yearslosing 21-0before moving into Three Rivers. The Steelers sold out every home game from 1972 through the closing of the stadium, a streak which continues through 2008. The Pirates lost the inaugural contest to the Reds, 3-2. Roberto Clemente statue outside Three Rivers Stadium is shown on October 16, 1994 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. . 7/30/1972. The Honus Wagner statue, which used to stand outside of Forbes Field, stood outside of Three Rivers Stadium. [51] The demolition cost $5.1million and used 4,800 pounds (2,180kg) of explosive. [45] The venue also served as the premiere of the 1994 Disney film Angels in the Outfield which, despite being based around the California Angels, paid homage to the original 1951 film, which featured the Pirates in "heavenly" need.[46]. boundtree continuing education; can you be charged under ucmj after discharge. Driving directions. It is in North Shore. The park was not configured for baseball, so sightlines were not good. (Historic Pittsburgh). The Stadium at the time was home to the western Pennsylvania professional sports teams and was a very popular location for major events. Three Rivers Stadiums original scoreboard extends out above the outfield wall. [28], During batting practice on that day, a stray foul ball hit a woman named Evelyn Jones in the eye while she was walking the stadium's concourse. [15][17] Arguments were made by commissioner (and former Allegheny County Medical Examiner) Dr. William McCelland that the Pirates and Steelers should fund a higher percentage of the $33million project ($275.6 million today). [9] The same site had hosted Exposition Park, which the Pirates had left in 1909. Roberto Clemente, aging like fine wine at 37, batted .341 and dominated the postseason to followhitting .387, shining on defense from the outfield, and earning World Series MVP honors as the Bucs came back from an early 2-0 series hole to defeat the Baltimore Orioles in seven games. The opening of Three Rivers marked the first time the Pirates allowed beer to be sold in the stands during a game since the early 1960s. Stadium officials notated the spot where they landed by later painting numbers on it. But few expected the team to plummet deep into the Hades of Baseball. The National League won the game 72 and the Pirates' Ken Brett was the winning pitcher. Its not that the Pirates had a choice in Forbes Fields fateat least not after 1958, when they sold the ballpark to the adjacent University of Pittsburgh, which wanted to raze the structure for campus expansion. [34] Throughout their 31seasons in Three Rivers Stadium, the Steelers posted a record of 18272, including a 13-5 playoff record, and defeated every visiting franchise at least once from the stadium's opening to close, enjoying perfect records there against seven teams. The plan was to build a whole mixed-use community around the stadium, including hotels, restaurants, a theme park, science center and marinaall connected by people movers. [54][55], Like most stadiums demolished during this time whose replacements were located nearby (including the Civic Arena over a decade later), the site of Three Rivers Stadium mostly became a parking lot. [11] It originally seated 50,611 for baseball,[11] but several expansions over the years brought it to 58,729. The perfect storm hit the Bucs after the 1992 season, facing an offseason in which free agents Bonds, ace pitcher Doug Drabek and Gold Glove second baseman Jose Lind all departed for richer teams in bigger markets because the Pirates simply lacked the capital to retain them. Verbal hostility from spectators in state of Pennsylvania wasnt just restricted to Philadelphia; Forbes Field was somewhat notorious as a place for fans who did more than boo. [13] Plans of the "Stadium over the Monongahela" were eventually not pursued. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). [12] An early design of the stadium included plans to situate the stadium atop a bridge across the Monongahela River. Contents Three rivers stadium implosion february 11 2001 at 8 00 am The final Pittsburgh Steelers home game was played on December 16th, 2000 vs. the Washington Redskins. The team proudly released a chart of the loudest decibel level counts during each of Parkers at-bats in his first game back at Three Rivers as a member of the Reds. Realtime driving directions to Three Rivers Stadium Home Plate Location, Pittsburgh, based on live traffic updates and road conditions - from Waze fellow drivers. [29], Three Rivers Stadium was similar in design to other stadiums built in the 1960s and 1970s, such as RFK Stadium in Washington, Shea Stadium in New York, Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, the Houston Astrodome, Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, and Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, which were designed as multi-purpose facilities to maximize efficiency. So the idea was to open it up and see the city.. However, the ushers' union declined the uniform change for female workers. Since completion, PNC Park has been hailed as one of the best ballparks in the country. Oakland head coach John Madden often told the story of what happened next: The refs got on the phone and asked stadium officials if they could guarantee their safety off the field. It had office buildings. You could even throw in the University of Pittsburgh football team, which abandoned their own stadium on campus and borrowed Three Rivers for big games, most notably in a 1976 championship campaign featuring Heisman Trophy running back Tony Dorsett. . Three Rivers Stadium was the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League. Marker is at the intersection of Art Rooney Avenue and North Shore Drive, on the left when traveling north on Art Rooney Avenue. Initially mocked for looking like everything from a softball jersey to pajamas, the synthetic unis would start a trend that virtually every other major league team would catch on with during the 1970s and beyond. Wehner went into detail as to just how he got that baseball back. The ballpark has a seating capacity of 41,500 with the main three tier grandstand stretching from the right field foul pole to home plate and down, and around the left field foul pole. 40 26.717 N, 80 0.833 W. Marker is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Allegheny County. Dave Parker had batteries thrown at him in the field; his Pirates teammate of five years, outfielder Lee Lacy, had bottles tossed toward him. The idea came from Forbes Field, Ritchey told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2001 of his ballpark design. As delirious Steelers fans jumped the stands and flooded the Three Rivers turf, referees sought to determine which player Bradshaws pass had deflected off of; at the time, an offensive player could not legally catch a ball deflected directly from a teammate. Two months later, on Dec. 16, the Steelers played their final game at Three Rivers, defeating the Washington Redskins 24-3. [28] A parade was held before opening ceremonies. The rancor became so R-rated that, by 1985, the Pirates set up a G-rated family section at Three Rivers that forbade profanity and alcohol. A jury awarded Jones $125,000, but it was reversed on appeal. Three Rivers Stadium: 1970-2000 Requiem for a ballpark. The first three years of the Pirates final decade at Three Rivers Stadium witnessed the fruits of their labor, winning the NL East each season from 1990-92. Three months later, on New Year's Eve, this true hero died in a tragic plane crash en route to help earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Most of the stadium's former site became a parking lot for PNC Park and Heinz Field. Yet in the 1970s, Three Rivers Stadium was a super bowl, literally so for the Steelerswho went on to conquer four National Football League titles in their first 10 years playing at the stadium. The stadium was . It is the fifth home of the Pittsburgh Pirates. 2023 Trib Total Media | All Rights Reserved. Fans missed Forbes Field more as each year passed. location, location, location. After reaching such heavenly highs in Three Rivers Stadiums first decade, the Pirates almost had nowhere to go but down in the 1980s. The university wanted the land for expanded graduate facilities. design Seat prox. The Pittsburgh Steelers, who had moved from Forbes Field to Pitt Stadium in 1964, were large supporters of the project. Pittsburgh, PA, US. Before each one of his appearances, the show plays a clip of Greg Brown and Steve Blass (complete with a train whistle) calling Wehner's home run that ended up being the very last in Three Rivers Stadium history. [15] A site on the city's Northside was approved on August 10, 1958, due to land availability and parking space,[15] the latter of which had been a problem at Forbes Field. The exodus buried the Bucs into eternal losing mode, while the situation made Three Rivers Stadium outdated and an obstacle to the future just as a new generation of popular, revenue-generated retro ballparks quickly began to rise in the horizon. Numerous strikes in a city heavily represented by unions pushed back the scheduled first game from Opening Day 1970 to midseason; Every day they delay making the move is taking money out of my pocket, complained Pirates star slugger Willie Stargell, who had enough of Forbes Field and its endless outfield dimensions. Roberto Clemente tallied his 3,000th hit within its walls on Sept. 30, 1972. The model of the stadium, revealed at the end of 1964, was eye candy on a prime level; a 54,000-seat venue with an overhang that protected 70% of the fans, thinning out and angling downward toward the river; private suites; and two restaurants, one open year-round. = Team's stadium under construction or refurbishment at time 1 = A team used the stadium when their permanent stadium was unable to be used as a result of damage.
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